Lever-latch.



S. L. WADE.

LEVER LATCH.

APPLICATION FILED 13110.7. 1912.

1,125,415. Patented Jan. 19, 1915.

l O E 1e g l3 l1 4/ 11 g l7 ,1 1% a 7 1S; l 3 1L samunr. L. WADE, or WHISTLER,

cox, oivn-srxrn TO OLIVER BENNETT, ALL or MONTGOMERY,

ALABAMA, ASSIGNOR OLF ONE-SIXTH TO WILLIAM N.

ATTR-IDGE, AND ONE-SIXTH ALABAMA.

T FREDERICK G.

LEVER-LATCH. 1

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 19, 1915.

Application filed December 7, 1912. Serial No. 735,494.

To all 1127mm it may concern Be it known that I, SAMUEL L. WADE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Whistler, in the county of Mobile and State of Alabama, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Lever-Latches, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

. This invention relates to new and useful improvements in lever latches, and applies the. friction principle to serve the purpose of latching a lever at any desired position. The usual method of latching a lever is by the use of pawls co-acting with the teeth of a ratchet.

My invention is particularly adapted for the regulation of throttle levers where slight reset.

variations of positions of the lever and eX actness are required or desired and where safety and practicability require that the lever shall remain where set until purposely By the use of my improved clutch device, I am able to set the lever at any desired location, thereby being enabled to ad just the amount of steam or power to be ad mitted for the moving mechanism, which makes it an easy matter to secure steady motion and uniform movement of the parts of the machinery and also saves the possibility of the lever being movedfrom its setting by the The object of the invention is to provide a device of this character whereby the lever may be readily clutched into engagement with the quadrant bar at any desired position.

Another object of the invention is to provide a clutch lever of this character which will possess advantages in points of chiciency and durability, is inexpensive to manufacture and at the same time is simple in construction and operation.

Vith the above and other objects in View, the invention consists in the novel features of construction and the combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter more fully described, pointed out in the claim and shown in the accompanying drawings, in which-- Figure 1 is a side elevation of a lever constructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view, and Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional View.

arring motions of the machine. 7

Referring more particularly to the drawings, 1 indicates the quadrant bar which is provided with perfectly smooth segmental gripping surfaces. The end of the bar is secured to one end of the supporting frame 9. by means of the nut 3 threaded on the outer end of the bar which is passed through an opening on the end of the frame 2. For the purpose of illustration, I have shown mounted upon the frame a lever 4 which is disposed in a vertical position, but it will be understood that the lever may be connected to a boiler of a locomotive or other part and may be disposed in a horizontal or any other position desired. A handle 5 is formed on the outer end of the lever and formed integral with saidlever is a housing 6 which is adapted to work upon the quadrant bar 1. The housing 6 is provided with a rectangular section 7, each end of said section being provided with the lugs 8 adapted to fit into similar shaped transverse grooves which are formed in the lever 41-. The section 7 is secured to the lever by means of the bolts 9 passing through the lugs 8 and through the section 7, nuts 10 are then threaded on the outer ends of the bolts to hold them securely in position.

Arranged within one side of the housing 6 is a bearing plate 11 which is held securely in place by means of the lips 12 formed upon each end of the plate and adapted to engage the sides of the housing to prevent lateral movement of said plate. The plate 11 is provided with the longitudinal grooves 13 tion rollers 14 which engage one side'of the quadrant bar 1. The plate 11 is further provided with the longitudinal ribs 11 which divide the same into the grooves 13 said ribs being adapted to limit the lateral movement of the rollers.

The section 7 is provided with a tapering longitudinal groove 15 in which is arranged a tapering key 16, the inner face of said key being provided with the longitudinal grooves 17 adapted to receive the friction rollers 18 which engage the side of the quadrant bar opposite the rollers 14. The key 16 may be provided with a number of ribs adapted to be arranged between the rollers to limit the lateral movement thereof and also form a partition therebetween, but in the present instance only one rib 17 adapted to receive the frie- V of a nut 27 threaded thereon.

end ofvthe bolt 20 is provided with a smooth is shown for the purpose of illustration. The key 16 is provided upon one face with a smooth surface whereby the same may readily slide Within the tapering groove 15 formed in the section 7.

Mounted in the section 7 and projecting across the groove 15 are the pins 16, said pins being arranged near each end of the section and disposed upon opposite sides of the groove so that each pin will engage one endof the rollers to prevent their removal from the section 7.

The handle 4 is provided adjacent the housing 6 with an elongated slot 19 in which is slidably mounted the body portion of a bolt 20, said bolt being normally disposed within the inner end of the slot. Arranged within the slot 19 is a coil spring 21, the tension of which retains the bolt 20 in the lower end of the slot. Having their inner ends mounted upon the bolt 20 and arranged upon each side of the slot 19 to retain the coil spring therein are the bars 22. The bars 22 are formed diverging adjacent their outer end as shown at 23 and arranged upon opposite sides of the inner end of the pivotally mounted handle member 24 and secured thereto by means of the bolt 25, the handle member 24 being pivotally secured to the lever 4 adjacent the handle 5 as shown at .26. The inner ends of the bars 2:2 are held securely in place upon the bolt 20 by means The outer portion 28 adapted to be inserted within an opening in the upper end of the key 16 so that when the handle member 24: is pressed inwardly toward the handle 5, the bolt 20 will be pulled outwardly in the slot 19, withdrawing the ficientlyto release the friction rollers 14: and 18 from the quadrant bar to allow the lever to be moved to any desired position. Upon releasing the handle member 24, the coil spring 21 which has been placed under tension will return the bolt 20 to the inner end ofthe slot and force the key 16 back to its locking position, thus frictionally engaging therollers Li and 18 with both sides of the quadrant bar. 7 V

From the above description, it will be readily apparent that I have provided a. the same maybe set to a lever whereby greater degree of fineness than the pawl and ratchet levers which are used at the present time which require that the lever must be set the full length of a tooth on the ratchet, and often requires the throwing of the lever too far, and if set back against the length of the-tooth, it is not far enough. By the Copies of this patent may be obtained for key 16 from the groove 15 suf rocate use of my improved clutch device, I am able to set the lever at any desired location thereby adjusting the amount of steam or power to be admitted for the moving mechanism which makes it an easy matter to secure a set motion and a uniform movement of the parts of the machine.

While I have shown and described the preferred form of my invention, it will be obvious that various changes in the details of construction and in the proportions may be resorted to for successfully carrying my invention into practice without sacrificing any of the novel features or departing from the scope of the appended claim.

What I claim is In a device of the class described, the combination with a segment bar, a lever having a housing adapted to work upon said bar,

' said lever being provided adjacent the houslng with an elongated slot, a removable section secured to the housing and having a tapering longitudinal groove, 7 a bearing plate arranged within said housing and provided with longitudinal grooves, ribs formed upon each end of said plate and adapted to engage the sides of the housing and prevent lateral movement of said plate, friction rollers arranged within said groove and adapted to engage one side of the bar, a tapering key slida-bly mounted in the groove in the removable section, a central rib formed upon arranged upon each side of said rib and adapted to engage the segment bar upon the side directly opposite the first rollers, pins one face of the key, rollers mounted in the removable section upon each side of and directly across the longitudinal groove at the ends of the last mentioned pivotally mounted adjacent the outer end of the lever'and to which the upper ends of said bars are pivotally connected, and said bolt beingconnected to the key whereby the actuation of said handle member may recipthe bolt in the slot and actuate the key to to 'sa'idbar'.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature in the presence of two witnesses. H

' s-SAMUEL L. WADE.

Witnesses: 4

JOHN Osmium), W. E. SPEEDLING.

five cents each, by addressing the Commissioneref Patents,

Washington, 1 ck I of the lever.

lock and unlock said lever relatively 

